Water python

[Viaaf]

I would be very concerned about the health of the snake at the start of this thread, it really doesn't look good at all.

After looking at your's and No-two's I have to agree. Those are great looking, well fed but not sloppy. Both of the pics I put up are the male, couldn't get the female still enough for a photo. She's over 6' and slender. as opposed to the male's gauntness. I have some rat pups thawing now for them. I was told they are good eaters on thawed but appearances don't support that.
Well, at least the olive I got today have better weight.

 

[Viaaf]

Sdaji, I wonder,

How fast do your olives grow? Don't know if you have any, but the fuscus you show is larger than I would expect an olive of the same age to be (from what I have heard).

 

[DA_GRIZ]

mate although they may be under weight and that all i can say atleast they have gone to you. and although i have never spoken a word to you just from this post i can see you love these snakes and want to do everything for them to get them up in size. all i can say is just pump the food into them when u get them feeding.

also abit off topic but is it true olives are hard to get in the us?

 

[Viaaf]

Thank you, Griz, I do appreciate the compliment. I like animals, and even though I don't run around trying to save the world, I believe I do a good job for the ones I have.
I can tell you, these may be underweight, but it isn't the snakes fault. Since they've had a few days to settle in I just (since the last post) gave the male three small rat pups. He took one off the tongs and then ate the others off the cage floor. Assuming he keeps on like this he'll be back up to size in good time.
Olives, water pythons, and Papuans aren't very plentiful here. I have spoken with a number of people recently and can say there were about five clutches of olives and three of Papuan in the US last year. I'm pretty sure of this, just two people produced them, and each of those people have produced them before. I'm not so sure on waters but believe it's a comparable number. Another scarce one here that seems more surprising to me is Stimsons. I may be missing something but hear even less mention of them. I don't really like talking about prices on open forums but PM me if you're curious about that.

 

[Carney]

they look as big as my yearling

 

[Sdaji]

Viaaf: I've never kept Olives, I don't like them - Waters are more than large enough, I love the rainbows and the vivid yellow bellies, not to mention the better personalities (on the good ones anyway!). Olives grow about as quickly as Water Pythons, though they're more prone to obesity issues, so you need to be more careful with them. If you don't overfeed them you can get away with giving them large, fatty rats more readily than with things like Womas and Black-headeds. As long as you don't underfeed Waters you can do just about anything you like with them and they'll thrive

 

[Slytherin]

Sdaji, that second photo of your water is simply stunning!!!!

 

[Sdaji]

Sdaji, that second photo of your water is simply stunning!!!!

Thanks They're pretty snakes, huh?

 

[No-two]

Thanks They're pretty snakes, huh?

I wish I had some waters like yours

 

[$NaKe PiMp]

yeah i like waters better than olives,they are such a prettty snake,and cheap to buy
olives are a bit bland but still lovely i work with one who is growing at a very fast rate

 

[Slytherin]

I can see why people like them...very beautiful and the original rainbow serpent.

 

[Viaaf]

I discovered the trick to getting these two snakes to eat.

You have to give them food. All I can think is the previous owner didn't because when I am near I can see them watching me, like they're hoping I put one of those rat things into their cage. I'll try not to overfeed but they do deserve (and require) heavier than usual feedings for a while.

 

[Rainbow-Serpent]

I think you need to fatten them up

 

[DA_GRIZ]

I think you need to fatten them up

i agree.

a snake thats 6ft would be able to take medium-large rats real easy

i bought a 3yr old coastal that was fed on live adult mice and i started feeding him defrosted mediums and he has grown over a ft and gotten alot fatter.

 

[Sdaji]

Viaaf: yep! Looks like you've found the well-hidden secret! Water Pythons often have the opportunity to gorge themselves for months on end in the wild, they've evolved that way so they thrive on it. Don't be squeamish about being very generous